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Playing the Elder Unknown: In which I (attempt to) play Battlespire and Aerna

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 5:21 am
by Narf the Mouse
So, being that these are two games I have never played before, I thought I'd try to play them. Here I will chronicle noteworthy adventures, mishaps, and, most likely, disastrous misfortunes.

There will be spoilers.

There will also be a *Lot* of mistakes, because when I say I've never played them before, let me add that I've only seen about five minutes of gameplay for each. I am, in short, completely new to Battlespire and Arena. Very new.

So, sit back, relax, and have a laugh. I know I am.

I begin with Battlespire. A Dark Elven fighter-spellcaster seems good. I take Critical Weakness to Poison and Inability to use Heavy Armour and Daedric to get 3x Int Magicka in Spell Points, Regenerate Magicka, Regenerate Health, and Rapid Healing. I then drop everything but Strength, Int, Speed, and Luck to 45, to bump my Strength and Speed. I buy a few spells; healing, teleport, cure poison, slow fall, and then I head off on my adventure.

At this point, experienced Battlespire players are nodding along.

You do not get default equipment in Battlespire. My character is naked.

Attempt #2 begins with dropping my Strength and Speed to 50 to buy what looks like a cuirass, helmet, boots, gauntlets, and pauldrons. One of each.

Yeeehp.

Although the picture shows two boots, the name says "Boot". There's a reason for that.

I awkwardly shuffle out of the Battlespire room and head over to play Arena.

In a fit of lunacy, I play a High Elven Mage. Boost Int to max, get dropped in prison cell. I check my character, arm myself with a dagger, and head out of my prison cell for the wide world of "I can cast one Fire Bolt spell and then one Light Heal and I'm done". But, I kill the goblin, after some metaphorical and literal flailing around.

I then head back to my cell to heal. The irony of this is not lost on me.

I'd like to take a moment to talk about how nice it is that you can see your surroundings while resting in Arena. It gives a nice, comforting feeling of false security.

The two rats who show up while I rest agree. So does the armed human of some sort, who kills me with a single hit.

And so, it is time for sleep.

For me, not the characters. ...Are characters asleep when you're not playing the game? Does everyone just awkwardly stand around and shuffle their feet? Are they but actors on a stage playing a part for you?

But for now, goodnight.

"Morning, Sam." "Morning, Ralph."

Re: Playing the Elder Unknown: In which I (attempt to) play Battlespire and Aerna

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:18 pm
by Consequence of Grace
ROFLMAO!! :lol:

I had no problems with Arena, except the eye-boggling graphics, but I really, really tried to play Battlespire and could not get out of the first room. I could not rest, could not heal, could not sleep, I could do nothing but die!

In the end (and this was in the late '90s), I decided the game must be bugged, couldn't find a patch and gave up.

Still have the game in the box.

:)

Re: Playing the Elder Unknown: In which I (attempt to) play Battlespire and Aerna

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:41 am
by Narf the Mouse
Consequence of Grace wrote: Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:18 pm ROFLMAO!! :lol:

I had no problems with Arena, except the eye-boggling graphics, but I really, really tried to play Battlespire and could not get out of the first room. I could not rest, could not heal, could not sleep, I could do nothing but die!

In the end (and this was in the late '90s), I decided the game must be bugged, couldn't find a patch and gave up.

Still have the game in the box.

:)
Yeah... Battlespire seems like a great idea hobbled by a bad interface. I can't say that it's the worst interface I've tried, but it's pretty bad.

OTOH, I have an equally-bad, albeit possibly hilarious, idea for a character the next time I play... Based on what I learned in my attempts.

Re: Playing the Elder Unknown: In which I (attempt to) play Battlespire and Aerna

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:01 am
by MrFlibble
Narf the Mouse wrote: Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:41 am idea for a character the next time I play... Based on what I learned in my attempts.
That's actually part of the fun/game experience with TES games. The only sure way to figure out how to properly play and enjoy them is through trial and error.

The first time I played Daggerfall I picked a Rogue (based on the questionnaire) which was pretty decent for a starting point without knowing a lot of specifics. It was the Betony demo BTW. Had a lot of fun, next time I chose a Dark Elf Nightblade and failed miserably. Same with trying a custom class, I wanted a stealth kind of character and picked the skills to match that, but the result was not a viable combination :)

Spellsword seems like a nice start in Arena and Morrowind, bit less so in Daggerfall. Haven't tried Battlespire though.